Antidote for the Winless: Red Wings lose to Chicago 4-1

The Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks faced off for the first time this season. Any thoughts of an easy victory were dashed pretty quickly as the Wings looked sluggish most of the night.

Patrick Kane tallied his third goal of the season while Calvin de Haan ripped a bullet past Thomas Greiss to get the second goal. Andrew Shaw tallied his first goal in over a year (I mean, of course against Detroit) and took a 3-0 advantage. Dylan Larkin netted one to help the Wings avoid a goose egg but Chicago put in an empty netter, finishing it off at 4-1.

Detroit really didn’t generate much. It’s very evident that the roster is still light in scoring forwards. Frans Nielsen, Luke Glendening, Valteri Filppula, and Darren Helm are not going to be lighting the lamp regularly. When they’re nearly half the forwards, what more do you expect? GRIT ruled Detroit for years and while there’s still GRIT, there aren’t nearly enough GOALS.

A few other observations

• • I have a piece coming soon about just how bare the Red Wings goal scoring is and has been. The poor decision making following the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom continues to haunt this team and nothing was more glaring than just how a few horses pull this team. Same names every time. Let me be clear: This is not on Steve Yzerman. He’s simply letting contracts run out the rest of the way so he’s flush with cash to build the team in his likeness and image. But it is still maddening to see the third and fourth lines be black holes. And it’s another indictment of just how bad of shape Ken Holland left this team.
  • I share the frustrations that everyone else does but I wrote in the preview that at this point it’s less about wins/losses and more about growth and acquiring cap space, picks, and prospects. We will not see marked improvement until Yzerman can get the guys he wants and fits the roster he seeks. Until then, we’re this is where we’re at as a fanbase. But friends, the future is bright.